lable at ScienceDirect

Journal of Cleaner Production 60 (2013) 216e224

Contents lists avai

Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/locate/ jc lepro

Short communication

Water is key e photo essay

Gil Garcetti a, Kathleen Kevany b,*

a Los Angeles, CA, USAbDalhousie University, Business & Social Sciences, Truro, P.O. Box 5000, Nova Scotia, Canada B2N 2E5

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 2 August 2013Accepted 2 August 2013Available online 15 August 2013

Keywords:WaterWomenChallengesSolutionsWater resource managementWater source protection

* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 902 893 6725.E-mail addresses: gsquared@garcetti.com (G.

gmail.com (K. Kevany).URL: http://www.garcetti.com

0959-6526/$ e see front matter � 2013 Elsevier Ltd.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.08.001

a b s t r a c t

Although deceptively beautiful, these images do not all tell a positive story. More than a billion people arewithout safe water. When safe water is available, entire village economies change and the lives of theinhabitants are transformed from disease and malnutrition to hope and success. In these images, sointimately composed, photo-journalist Gil Garcetti portrays life in West Africa and the consequences ofliving with and without safe water. Garcetti was deeply touched as he traveled throughout Niger, Ghana,Mali, and Burkina Faso, interviewed villagers and saw first-hand what water means to these elegantpeoples. He was motivated to bring the story to a wider audience and to initiate, through his photo-graphs, a call to action to the industrialized world to co-work in these and other countries to help toensure improved water resource management for the short and long-term future of all societies. Pleasevisit www.balconypress.com for more information about this book. Garcetti, G. 2007. Water is Key. Bal-cony Press, Glendale, CA. ISBN 978-1-890449-26-1.

� 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

This collection of photographs extends and expands upon thecontent of this Special Volume on Women and Water by includingprofound visual renderings of the artist and photo-journalist GilGarcetti. Extracted from his book, Water is Key: A Better Future forAfrica, these photographs prompt the empathetic viewer to morevividly see, understand and ‘feel’ the hardship faced by women andfamilies without access to safe, clean water. These images engagethe viewer in sensing the conditions where women are required torise early and with their young children make one or more daily,lengthy treks to obtain water for their family’s use. We can see andfeel the pain of children and adults being plagued by infectionsfrom contaminated water. Also, in the voice of the people, children,women, and men living without access to safe water, quotes areinserted throughout this photo essay to underscore the challengesfamilies face to help to ignite imaginations for desperately neededlocal solutions. Readers are encouraged to remain optimistic and tocontribute to the formation of innovative strategies and remedies.Through Garcetti’s photographs, viewers can experience the sen-sations of the first sprays of water in a community from a new borewell. They prompt us to share the sorrow and the joy and challenge

Garcetti), kathleen.kevany@

All rights reserved.

us to be creative in development of solutions and in supportingfamilies in need of access to clean and affordable water. Water isindeed the ‘key-for-life!’

2. Dedication

In his dedication to the book, Water is Key: A Better Future forAfrica, Garcetti wrote this profound and provocative opening.

This is my fifth photography book. It is, however, different frommy previous books. First, it tells the story of hope, of success, of theextraordinarily positive results investing in the future can have onthe lives of so many. It is a call to action. Secondly, the book isdedicated to three people e three people who represent thousandsand perhaps millions of others who share their view of and theirpassion for life.

The first representative, through leadership, vision, grit, deter-mination, endless energy and perseverance, Dyanne Hayes-Nash,former Executive Vice President of the Conrad N. Hilton Founda-tion, devoted her extraordinary talents to the basic needs of ruralvillagers ofWest Africa. Her focus on boreholewells, latrines, healthprojects, microcredit programs, gender equality, education, andleveraging partnerships with numerous non-government organi-zations is a road map and an inspiration for others to follow.

The second representative is Mahamane Salissou Issoufou.When one looks into his eyes, one sees life, hope, thanks, and noevidence of the pain he lives with every minute of his life. As a babyand a young child in his village of Tibiri, Niger, Mahamane drankwater that no one knewwas contaminated with excessive amounts

Photo 1. Mali e A Dogon village. Note the cliff-hanging structures in the background.

Photo 2. The lands and villages depicted in these photos are typical of the rurallandscape of Niger, Mali, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. During the dry season or in times ofdrought, the land is rock hard. Unless the village has a nearby well or stream, familyvegetable garden plots are unsustainable.

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of natural occurring fluoride. The fluoride in the water greatlydistorted the shape of his bones and caused severe and constantpain. But Mahamane lives. And he lives with spirit, with joy, and,almost miraculously, with hope. Mahamane represents themillionsof children who have died or who suffer as a result of thecontaminated water they use. It is his spirit of optimism that mo-tivates anyone who meets him.

My third representative is twelve-year old Zalifa Lamine, whowould be a winner anywhere. She is a young girl who represents somany young West African girls. Before a borehole well was dug inher village of Kandine, Niger, everyday, two-three times a day, shewould make the long trek to the traditional, hand dug well to bringwater e invariably contaminated e to her family. It was not onlybackbreaking work, but also it kept her from attending school,regularly. She and other members of her family and villagefrequently became seriously ill from the dirty water. A bright,articulate, respectful, and confident girl, Zalifa now expresses hopefor the future. Why? Because her village of about 2000 people nowhas a sustainable, nearby borehole well, which has completelychanged her life and the life of her entire family and village. Sheeagerly attends school, everyday. She and her family and fellowvillagers are much healthier. Zalifa and her mother work with otherwomen in their village in a successful microcredit program, and shenow has clear hope and plans for her future. She wants to be ateacher or a nurse in her village. She told me, “I want to help othergirls and women in my village.” She made this statement lookingdirectly at me, her eyes filled with determination, hope, and spirit.

Some of the same vagaries and challenges that plague thewomen and families in Western Africa, as presented in thesephotographs, are also identified in the papers in this collection.These images and community stories are not duplicative butcomplementary messages. Like the women and girls in thesephotographs, the amount of time and effort that are invested dailyare also identified in the articles in the first section of this SpecialVolume of the Journal of Cleaner Production on water and women.Authors in this section provide scientific data, which reveals thecosts of and some creative solutions for time required for fetchingand managing water. The second section on water and waste of theSpecial Volume is also vividly depicted in these photographs wherewater is collected from contaminated sites. Water holes, used byhumans and animals, are sources of harmful water-borne bacteriaunless effectively filtered and cleaned. Issues of arsenic, chromium,and other pollutants affect the health and well-being of people ofall ages. Families and communities need to be properly equippedwith water safety practices. Water security remains a concern ofsuch magnitude and of such importance; it is a matter of life ordeath. Solutions for preventing, mitigating and cleaning water ofcontaminants are well described in this second section of papers ofthis Special Volume. For example, in the section on water andwisdom, the strategies proposed cover a range of issues and includecompelling arguments for conservation strategies in rural and ur-ban water systems. The need remains for increasing consciousnessabout the value of water and the importance of its protection andprudent use. This collection of articles, complimented by Garcetti’svivid photographs provides insight into current, state-of-the-artstrategies to guide resource management and community plan-ners and practitioners. The final section of papers of this SpecialIssue highlights challenges and solutions for water and wealth andstrategies to ensure fairer access towater in rural communities. Thepolitical, social, cultural and increasingly serious environmentalconcerns with water delivery and distribution need to be consid-ered to make the viability of businesses possible. Garcetti’s photosand the papers underscore the struggles and opportunities forinnovating and collaborating on decisions and strategies for healthywater infrastructures.

To communicate with the photographer or to become involved infacilitating water access, please contact: Gil Garcetti at gsquared@garcetti.com or by post at Gil Garcetti Photography, 12021 WilshireBlvd. #505, Los Angeles, CA 90025. Through his work with WellsBring Hope, Gil is helping to save lives with safe water inWest Africa.You can contribute to life changing work by visiting and supportingthese significant interventions: http://wellsbringhope.org/gil.php.

Photos 3a and 3b. One can see not only the girls and women and the heavy loads of water they carry, but the dense dust that permeates every pore of their skin and everythingthey wear or possess. This dust is carried by the Harmattan winds from the Sahara desert throughout most of West Africa during 5e6 months of every year.

I leave the village between 4:00 am and 5:00 am everyday with some of my children to fetch the water. We usually don’t return untilabout 10:00 am. Sometimes we have to go twice a day for water whenwe don’t have enough healthy family members to carry what weneed.

Rahinatu Sayibu Sehudren

Photo 4. Niger e This photo depicts typical standing water ponds in West Africa. Thepond water lasts for a few months, after which the girls and women must trek evenfurther to gather their daily water needs. Villagers pick up parasites such as Guineaworm from these kinds of ponds and streambeds.

Photo 5. Niger e Throughout the region one sees young girls like this one carryinglarge containers of water on their heads as they carry a baby sister or brother on theirback. This girl is about nine years old. She has never attended school.

I am 12 years old. I walk 20 min from my village to the lake forwater. I go four times a day. I sell water. I stopped going to schoolin the third grade because my father said I needed to help thefamily by selling water. I make about $1 a day. I would love to goback to school, but my family needs themoney I make collectingand selling the water.

Adamou Mamane Diori

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Photo 6. Ghana e The girls are taking water from what is called a “traditional” water well, i.e., dug by hand, no cover, little if any maintenance, and livestock likely contributing towater contamination.

Photo 7. Ghana e This photo shows how some of the contamination that is being caught by a villager as she filters water gathered from this well.

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Photos 8a and 8b. This villager is pouring the water from a “traditional”well, brought to her by her young daughter, into a gauze covered cistern. Using this crude process filters outsome of the contamination found in the water.

We have never had enough water. And the water we have is very bad. I lost one child from the water. He was one year old and startedvomiting and then had diarrhea. We couldn’t save him.

Ataa Alhassan

Photos 9a and 9b. Ghana e A guinea worm is seen in the arm of the man. It took almost an hour for the health specialist to remove the nearly three foot long worm from the man’sarm. Two additional guinea worms were removed from his leg and groin area.

G. Garcetti, K. Kevany / Journal of Cleaner Production 60 (2013) 216e224220

Photo 10. Ghana e This water-drilling crew works exclusively in rural northern Ghana. The average cost of a borehole well is $10,000e$12,000.

The boreholewell has given us a new life. I don’t fall sick. Mywife and children don’t fall sick.We used to visit the health clinic all the time.Last year, we had to go only once. The new borehole has even improved the relationship between me and my wife and the children.

Iddirisu Alhassan

Photo 11. Ghana e With a successful borehole well, one of the first things youngsters are taught is to wash their eyes and to care for themselves more effectively. The gratitude for watercontinues on past the celebrations of the first access to local water by the community.

The main benefit of clean water is that our children are much healthier; because now we have gardens where we plant and raisevegetables we hardly ever had before. This garden farm empowers me economically, because I am able to harvest from here, go to themarket, sell, and then put some money aside for emergencies or things we need.

Sekina

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Photo 12. Niger e A key element to safe water is developing sanitation facilities. When a successful borehole well is completed, the next immediate step is to provide sanitationfacilities for the villagers. Here the workers are making concrete footprints on the cover of a latrine on which the user will place her/his feet before squatting over the central key-shaped hole.

Photo 13. Ghana e Microcredit programs are incredibly successful in those villages where sustainable borehole wells are developed. The wells free the women from the need tofetch and haul the water. Women undertake many enterprises, including those like the one shown here, batik dying of clothes and cloth. These are then available for sale to othervillagers.

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Photo 14. Niger e Abu (Abanisa) is how everyone in the village addresses this remarkable woman in Safo Village. She is the person in charge of the village microcredit program, theraising and selling of goats, (12,000 goats in eight years!). 147 women in the village participate in the program. Abu also administers the stored grain facility in the village. Whew,what a woman! Gil Garcetti describes Abu as a woman with presence and with authority, beauty, knowledge, strength, focused, definitely in charge and clearly respected by all.

Photo 15. This young girl is in a class where she is the oldest student and one of only two girls in this school.

I’ve been teaching here for eight years. Before the borehole well, we had 46 students. Now we have close to 400 students!

Mohammed Yahaya, teacher

Photo 16.

I’m pregnant, and I smile to think I will be able to bathe my baby in clean water. He will be healthy. I’ll also use the good water to cleanmyself and look bright.

Meimanatu Alhassan

Photo 18. This picture shows the painted signs used in a celebration by the entire village of the life-changing experience of a successful borehole well. On one piece of wood ispainted, “WATER IS KEY.” This phrase is fundamental and a true statement and the title of Gil’s book of photographs. Amadou Touré, President of Mali, emphasized this when wesaid, “With safe water, everything good follows for my people.”

Photo 17. Niger e Whenever one enters a rural village, it is customary to first pay one’s respect to the village chief. The chief in this village was an empathetic, generously spiritedleader. When asked by the photographer could take his photo the positive energy and reply was a delight. The chief picked up one of his grandsons to sit with him in thephotograph. This particular photograph conveys, for the photographer, much of what is West Africa: hope, gentleness, spirit, strength, and beauty.

G. Garcetti, K. Kevany / Journal of Cleaner Production 60 (2013) 216e224224